Rebecca Sear
@rebeccasear.bsky.social
Director of the Centre for Culture and Evolution, Brunel University London @brunelcce.bsky.social. President of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association @ehbea.bsky.social
https://www.rebeccasear.org/
https://www.rebeccasear.org/
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Shuster et al (2025) on the gendering of plant reproduction processes: "The durability of gender stereotypes in describing plant reproduction reflects deeper tensions in the communication of information by the scientific community." 🧪
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Plant Sex: A Cultural Analysis of the Gendering of Plant Reproduction Processes | Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society: Vol 50, No 3
Abstract Scholarship from feminist science, knowledge, and technology (FSTS) studies consistently demonstrates how the production of knowledge about biological processes depends upon gender stereotype...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 18, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Shuster et al (2025) on the gendering of plant reproduction processes: "The durability of gender stereotypes in describing plant reproduction reflects deeper tensions in the communication of information by the scientific community." 🧪
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Guide for the perplexed:
One academic expressing an opinion about another academic’s work = not censorship
A university dictating what its staff can and cannot teach = censorship
One academic expressing an opinion about another academic’s work = not censorship
A university dictating what its staff can and cannot teach = censorship
'Courses that “advocate race or gender ideology, sexual orientation, or gender identity” now require presidential approval at Texas A&M system campuses, the system Board of Regents decided Thursday.'
Much will rest on interpretations of 'advocate' and 'ideology'. Or will it? 1/4
Much will rest on interpretations of 'advocate' and 'ideology'. Or will it? 1/4
Texas A&M Requires Approval for Courses That “Advocate” Certain Ideologies
Many faculty members decried the new restrictions on race- and gender-related courses as an assault on academic freedom. Meanwhile, the board also discussed a once-per-semester systemwide course revie...
www.insidehighered.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Guide for the perplexed:
One academic expressing an opinion about another academic’s work = not censorship
A university dictating what its staff can and cannot teach = censorship
One academic expressing an opinion about another academic’s work = not censorship
A university dictating what its staff can and cannot teach = censorship
Settlement and the intergenerational dispersion of kin as
a spatial process in the nineteenth century US
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
a spatial process in the nineteenth century US
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.tandfonline.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Settlement and the intergenerational dispersion of kin as
a spatial process in the nineteenth century US
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
a spatial process in the nineteenth century US
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
I talked a bit with Jason about Grokipedia and it is, without exaggeration, like if you trained an LLM solely on white supremacist blogs and had it try to write Wikipedia entries. Some of the most insane stuff I’ve seen on the internet
Hard to find a clearer distillation of the gen ai project.
White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia
World’s richest person wanted to ‘purge’ propaganda from Wikipedia, so he created a compendium of racist disinformation
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I talked a bit with Jason about Grokipedia and it is, without exaggeration, like if you trained an LLM solely on white supremacist blogs and had it try to write Wikipedia entries. Some of the most insane stuff I’ve seen on the internet
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
The ‘polarisation narrative’ simplifies complex issues by constructing a spectrum where good should be found in the middle of diametrically opposed political positions
New preprint article by @juanroch.bsky.social, @daniel-balinhas.bsky.social and I
1/
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
New preprint article by @juanroch.bsky.social, @daniel-balinhas.bsky.social and I
1/
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) A critique of the polarisation narrative: Expanding the limits of democracy, parties and political participation
PDF | To cite: Roch J, Balinhas, D and Mondon A (2025) 'A critique of the polarisation narrative: Expanding the limits of democracy, parties and... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on R...
www.researchgate.net
November 17, 2025 at 10:19 AM
The ‘polarisation narrative’ simplifies complex issues by constructing a spectrum where good should be found in the middle of diametrically opposed political positions
New preprint article by @juanroch.bsky.social, @daniel-balinhas.bsky.social and I
1/
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
New preprint article by @juanroch.bsky.social, @daniel-balinhas.bsky.social and I
1/
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation | Behavioral and Brain Sciences | Cambridge Core
Egalitarianism is not Equality: Moving from outcome to process in the study of human political organisation
doi.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:05 AM
📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
"Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified."
doi.org/10.1017/S014...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Reminder for this upcoming #WplusEBSWednesday: if you have anything you’d like us to highlight, please fill out this Google Form!
We’re collecting recommendations for fun podcasts, books, new articles, job opportunities, and other resources you think would be useful for our community.
We’re collecting recommendations for fun podcasts, books, new articles, job opportunities, and other resources you think would be useful for our community.
Have a resource, recommendation, or opportunity you think would benefit our community?
Submit it through this form (or comment below!) so we can feature it in an upcoming #WplusEBSWednesdays post (yes, even your own paper)! (2/2)
🔗 forms.gle/oz6M3fXN8G7z...
#WplusEBS
Submit it through this form (or comment below!) so we can feature it in an upcoming #WplusEBSWednesdays post (yes, even your own paper)! (2/2)
🔗 forms.gle/oz6M3fXN8G7z...
#WplusEBS
W+EBS Wednesdays Recommendation Form
Have a resource, opportunity, or recommendation you think would be valuable to the Women+ in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences (W+EBS) community?
Every Wednesday, we share posts featuring useful tools,...
forms.gle
November 17, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Reminder for this upcoming #WplusEBSWednesday: if you have anything you’d like us to highlight, please fill out this Google Form!
We’re collecting recommendations for fun podcasts, books, new articles, job opportunities, and other resources you think would be useful for our community.
We’re collecting recommendations for fun podcasts, books, new articles, job opportunities, and other resources you think would be useful for our community.
Eugenics is described as a “science” which “derives from the fundamental biological reality that many human traits, including cognitive ability, physical health, and behavioral dispositions, possess substantial genetic components”
White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia
World’s richest person wanted to ‘purge’ propaganda from Wikipedia, so he created a compendium of racist disinformation
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Eugenics is described as a “science” which “derives from the fundamental biological reality that many human traits, including cognitive ability, physical health, and behavioral dispositions, possess substantial genetic components”
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Some fertility rates are apparent in social life. Crude birth rate is how many people are babies. Completed fertility is how many children women middle-aged women have. Total fertility rate is not. A given TFR can look like many different social patterns. It does not correspond to common perception.
November 17, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Some fertility rates are apparent in social life. Crude birth rate is how many people are babies. Completed fertility is how many children women middle-aged women have. Total fertility rate is not. A given TFR can look like many different social patterns. It does not correspond to common perception.
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Historian Quinn Slobodian in the Financial Times today describing how eugenics is now firmly back on the political agenda
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
November 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Historian Quinn Slobodian in the Financial Times today describing how eugenics is now firmly back on the political agenda
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Fascinating (and important to many fields of study).
Link to PNAS paper is in 2/2.
1/2
Link to PNAS paper is in 2/2.
1/2
Brunel's press release about our (@hggaddy.bsky.social @anthrolog.bsky.social) recent publication, showing that high levels of polygyny don't necessarily lock men out of the marriage market
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Data questions myths about multiple wife marriages, men and violence
A new study analyzing 84 million census records reveals that polygyny does not increase the number of unmarried men. In many societies where polygyny is common, men are actually more likely to be marr...
www.brunel.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Fascinating (and important to many fields of study).
Link to PNAS paper is in 2/2.
1/2
Link to PNAS paper is in 2/2.
1/2
"The cooperative eye hypothesis proposes that human eyeballs are uniquely conspicuous and evolved under selective pressures to behave cooperatively....but lacks robust empirical support: human eye pigmentation does not uniquely stand out among primates, is not uniform at species level..."
Look past the cooperative eye hypothesis: reconsidering the evolution of human eye appearance
The external appearance of the human eye has been prominently linked to the evolution of complex sociocognitive functions in our species. The cooperative eye hypothesis (CEH) proposes that human eyeb....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:35 AM
"The cooperative eye hypothesis proposes that human eyeballs are uniquely conspicuous and evolved under selective pressures to behave cooperatively....but lacks robust empirical support: human eye pigmentation does not uniquely stand out among primates, is not uniform at species level..."
Brunel's press release about our (@hggaddy.bsky.social @anthrolog.bsky.social) recent publication, showing that high levels of polygyny don't necessarily lock men out of the marriage market
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Data questions myths about multiple wife marriages, men and violence
A new study analyzing 84 million census records reveals that polygyny does not increase the number of unmarried men. In many societies where polygyny is common, men are actually more likely to be marr...
www.brunel.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Brunel's press release about our (@hggaddy.bsky.social @anthrolog.bsky.social) recent publication, showing that high levels of polygyny don't necessarily lock men out of the marriage market
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
🚨 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 🚨
#EHBEA2026 will be held in Leiden!
Do not forget to submit your abstract before December 15th in order to attend and share your research!
More in the official account:
@ehbea2026.bsky.social
👇👇👇
#EHBEA2026 will be held in Leiden!
Do not forget to submit your abstract before December 15th in order to attend and share your research!
More in the official account:
@ehbea2026.bsky.social
👇👇👇
📢 Call for abstracts!
🚀 The time has come — abstract submission for #EHBEA2026 is officially OPEN since this week! 🎉
🗓 Submission Nov 1st – Dec 15th
📝 300 words
🧠 Important: Make an OpenReview account before submitting — it takes time!
👉 www.ehbea2026.com
🚀 The time has come — abstract submission for #EHBEA2026 is officially OPEN since this week! 🎉
🗓 Submission Nov 1st – Dec 15th
📝 300 words
🧠 Important: Make an OpenReview account before submitting — it takes time!
👉 www.ehbea2026.com
Overview | EHBEA2026
www.ehbea2026.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:23 AM
🚨 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 🚨
#EHBEA2026 will be held in Leiden!
Do not forget to submit your abstract before December 15th in order to attend and share your research!
More in the official account:
@ehbea2026.bsky.social
👇👇👇
#EHBEA2026 will be held in Leiden!
Do not forget to submit your abstract before December 15th in order to attend and share your research!
More in the official account:
@ehbea2026.bsky.social
👇👇👇
“there is something wilful about indifference. It is never by chance. It is either willed by the individual or eased by the institutions that structure their practices”
Epistemic dignity
I wrote an essay on this important book for @thelancet.com: Do Less Harm: Ethical Questions for Health Historians, edited by Courtney Thompson & Kylie Smith
Please read the review here www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The book is available here www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
I wrote an essay on this important book for @thelancet.com: Do Less Harm: Ethical Questions for Health Historians, edited by Courtney Thompson & Kylie Smith
Please read the review here www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
The book is available here www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
November 16, 2025 at 10:23 AM
“there is something wilful about indifference. It is never by chance. It is either willed by the individual or eased by the institutions that structure their practices”
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Seems the NYT likes Leiden as much as we do 😉 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/t...
BTW did you know that EHBEA 2026 will take place right in the middle of the renowned Dutch flower season? 🌼🌼 If you consider staying for one extra night you can enjoy the annual parade (“bloemencorso”) on the 18th 😇
BTW did you know that EHBEA 2026 will take place right in the middle of the renowned Dutch flower season? 🌼🌼 If you consider staying for one extra night you can enjoy the annual parade (“bloemencorso”) on the 18th 😇
All the Canals and Charm of Amsterdam. None of the Crowds.
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Seems the NYT likes Leiden as much as we do 😉 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/t...
BTW did you know that EHBEA 2026 will take place right in the middle of the renowned Dutch flower season? 🌼🌼 If you consider staying for one extra night you can enjoy the annual parade (“bloemencorso”) on the 18th 😇
BTW did you know that EHBEA 2026 will take place right in the middle of the renowned Dutch flower season? 🌼🌼 If you consider staying for one extra night you can enjoy the annual parade (“bloemencorso”) on the 18th 😇
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Come and do a PhD at Exeter with me and Chico Camargo (Computer Science) on human-genAI coevolution
"Leveraging Natural Language Processing for Data-Driven Agent-Based Modelling of Online Cultural Dynamics"
www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/recr...
More details here:
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
"Leveraging Natural Language Processing for Data-Driven Agent-Based Modelling of Online Cultural Dynamics"
www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/recr...
More details here:
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
www.exeter.ac.uk
November 14, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Come and do a PhD at Exeter with me and Chico Camargo (Computer Science) on human-genAI coevolution
"Leveraging Natural Language Processing for Data-Driven Agent-Based Modelling of Online Cultural Dynamics"
www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/recr...
More details here:
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
"Leveraging Natural Language Processing for Data-Driven Agent-Based Modelling of Online Cultural Dynamics"
www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/recr...
More details here:
www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Together, our findings demonstrate that men supporting women’s empowerment face heavy costs - but norms are mutable.
Policies that reduce structural barriers, address stigma around gender atypical behavior, and leverage emerging benefits can help accelerate gender-equitable change. 🎯 5/5
Policies that reduce structural barriers, address stigma around gender atypical behavior, and leverage emerging benefits can help accelerate gender-equitable change. 🎯 5/5
November 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Together, our findings demonstrate that men supporting women’s empowerment face heavy costs - but norms are mutable.
Policies that reduce structural barriers, address stigma around gender atypical behavior, and leverage emerging benefits can help accelerate gender-equitable change. 🎯 5/5
Policies that reduce structural barriers, address stigma around gender atypical behavior, and leverage emerging benefits can help accelerate gender-equitable change. 🎯 5/5
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
🚨 🐍 Our new paper on the consequences men face when countering patriarchal norms in rural Tanzania 🐍.🚨
We carried out focus groups and detailed interviews with a whopping 172 women and men about their perceptions of men who support women's empowerment... 📝 1/5
We carried out focus groups and detailed interviews with a whopping 172 women and men about their perceptions of men who support women's empowerment... 📝 1/5
“A snake with no teeth”: Urbanization shifts perceptions of men who support women’s empowerment in Northwestern Tanzania
Achieving gender equality requires the support of all genders, but efforts to engage men in women’s empowerment initiatives have been fraught with res…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:45 PM
🚨 🐍 Our new paper on the consequences men face when countering patriarchal norms in rural Tanzania 🐍.🚨
We carried out focus groups and detailed interviews with a whopping 172 women and men about their perceptions of men who support women's empowerment... 📝 1/5
We carried out focus groups and detailed interviews with a whopping 172 women and men about their perceptions of men who support women's empowerment... 📝 1/5
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
The submission deadline for #CESRabat has been extended to 30 November
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
👉 A reminder that the deadline for submitting your abstract to the CES 2026 #CESRabat is the 16th of November.
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
🔗Submit here: airess.fgses-um6p.ma/ces2026
We look forward to seeing you in Rabat!
We’re delighted to share that the CES2026 Conference website is now live!
We warmly invite researchers, scholars, and practitioners to submit their presentation proposals by November 16th through the submission portal on the website.
We warmly invite researchers, scholars, and practitioners to submit their presentation proposals by November 16th through the submission portal on the website.
November 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
The submission deadline for #CESRabat has been extended to 30 November
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
@ces2026.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
Millions of dollars worth of contraceptives have been stored in Belgium since the U.S. froze foreign aid. A local official says some products were stored improperly and are largely unusable. n.pr/43Akhmy
A stock of U.S.-bought birth control, meant for sub-Saharan Africa, goes bad in Belgium
Millions of dollars worth of contraceptives have been stored in Belgium since the U.S. froze foreign aid. A local official says some products were stored improperly and are largely unusable.
n.pr
November 15, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Millions of dollars worth of contraceptives have been stored in Belgium since the U.S. froze foreign aid. A local official says some products were stored improperly and are largely unusable. n.pr/43Akhmy
Historian Quinn Slobodian in the Financial Times today describing how eugenics is now firmly back on the political agenda
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
November 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Historian Quinn Slobodian in the Financial Times today describing how eugenics is now firmly back on the political agenda
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
www.ft.com/content/23e9...
Reposted by Rebecca Sear
'Once again, the lack of regulation in the university sector has thrown up the risk of creating disciplinary “cold spots”; if the proposals are adopted, students in the East Midlands will no longer have a local opportunity to develop an integrated knowledge of languages and cultures.' 3/3
November 15, 2025 at 8:06 AM
'Once again, the lack of regulation in the university sector has thrown up the risk of creating disciplinary “cold spots”; if the proposals are adopted, students in the East Midlands will no longer have a local opportunity to develop an integrated knowledge of languages and cultures.' 3/3